"If you are buying gold, make sure what you buy is non-counterfeitable, and empowers you with maximum flexibility"

But... if the article is true and some of the most reputable dealers are selling fake gold, other than smelting it myself, how in the world can I KNOW it is real gold? At least with the dollar bill, I have the information I need to make sure it's not fake.

"If you are buying gold, make sure what you buy is non-counterfeitable, and empowers you with maximum flexibility"

But... if the article is true and some of the most reputable dealers are selling fake gold, other than smelting it myself, how in the world can I KNOW it is real gold? At least with the dollar bill, I have the information I need to make sure it's not fake.

You can buy it from Jag-Offs company and then you're GUARANTEED they will be selling you real gold.

"If you are buying gold, make sure what you buy is non-counterfeitable, and empowers you with maximum flexibility"

But... if the article is true and some of the most reputable dealers are selling fake gold, other than smelting it myself, how in the world can I KNOW it is real gold? At least with the dollar bill, I have the information I need to make sure it's not fake.

Make sure that the gold you get is produced by an LBMA accredited refinery on their Good Delivery List.

Does the gold that you acquire, or propose to acquire have security features that would instantly alert you as to whether or not the gold has been tampered with?

Is it even economically feasible for a counterfeiter to tamper with the gold? 1 gram gold bars produced by Karatbars are tamper-proof. In addition to the many security features, it quite literally would cost a counterfeiter more money to produce a fake gold bar, than it would to simply produce a genuine 24KT one.

Today a legend in the business surprised King World News when he said, “Gold is going to keep going up until the US dollar is finished. So the reign of the US dollar will come to an end.” Keith Barron, who consults with major gold companies around the world, and is responsible for one of the largest gold discoveries in the last quarter century, also said, “At that point the global collapse will be in full-swing.”

On the heels of another major country being downgraded yesterday, Barron also warned, “The real problem here is that you can’t restore confidence at this point in the cycle.” Here is what he had to say: “Europe is getting worse all the time. The IMF is now saying that European banks may have to sell off an additional $4.5 trillion of assets. At the same time, they are trying to push various governments for increased austerity measures, and it’s not working. Either the countries are simply not implementing the increased austerity or they are not implementing them to the extent that the troika wants.”

Keith Barron continues:

“Some countries are refusing, and in addition they are having more civil unrest. The unemployment rate is now a staggering 25% in Greece. It has reached a mind boggling 52% unemployment for those under the age of 25 in Spain. These are truly incredible numbers, and as I said, they are fomenting very intense civil unrest.

This is going to lead to the death of democracy if something is not done....

“The only way to paper over the cracks here is to throw money at it. So we see the European Central Bank doing that, and this is just going to be the wave of the future. Europeans are also worried about increasing capital controls, and right now there are large movements of capital going into physical gold. This is what people are doing to preserve their wealth in Europe, moving into gold.

At some point these policies are going to become tremendously inflationary and you are going to see interest rates begin to rise quite precipitously. At that point the global collapse will be in full-swing. The real problem here is that you can’t restore confidence at this point in the cycle. At the end of the day, the only way to get out of this type of situation is to repudiate the debt.”

Barron also added: “Gold is going to keep going up until the US dollar is finished. So the reign of the US dollar will come to an end, and we will see a new currency. But in the meantime, you could see gold go to $3,000, $5,000, $7,000, $10,000, who knows? It’s not really an appreciation in the price of gold, it’s a drop in the currency.

This is something people don’t really understand. Gold is going up because the global fiat currencies are becoming worth less and less all the time. If you look at a chart of the US dollar over the last century, the Fed has virtually destroyed the US dollar already, and this will just accelerate going forward.

So all we need to see here is for major pension funds to begin to move into gold, and you will see some real fireworks because the availability of physical gold is already tight in this market. Eventually there will be a mass movement into gold during this destructive cycle, and the daily movements in the price of gold will literally shock people, even the most veteran of the goldbugs.

Putting aside the consolidation in gold, we don’t yet know what will push the price of gold through $1,800 and eventually to new all-time highs, but what we do know is that the intensity of this global crisis will only continue to escalate and it’s absolutely critical that investors protect themselves and their families from what is coming.”

While doing the research for this article, it appeared the leaders of China have been listening to Ron Paul while most leaders in the U.S. continue to mock him.

Though history proves fiat currencies fail, central banks, including the Federal Reserve are bound and determined to convince the world that this time history won’t repeat itself.

So, if you were China and you owned $1.2 trillion in U.S. bills, notes, and bonds, what would you do to hedge your bets and cover your fanny? Exactly what China is doing: buying gold. In fact, they are buying so much; it appears they are preparing for a world beyond the fiat dollar. A future world in which the renminbi backed by gold could become the dominant reserve currency.

State-owned China National, CEO Sun Zhaoxue commented on the acquisition of African Barrick Gold Ltd, saying, “As gold is a currency in nature, no matter if it’s for state economic security or for the acceleration of renminbi internationalization, increasing the gold reserve should be one of the key strategies of China.” So, in spite of the fact China is the world's largest producer of gold, it appears important enough for China to still acquire interest in mines in other countries.

And Zhaoxue sounds suspiciously like Ron Paul when he says, “Gold is currency.”

But then we hear Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, telling students at George Washington University how impractical a gold backed currency is, “I mean, what you have to do to have a gold standard is you have to go to South Africa or some place and dig up tons of gold and move it to New York.”

So while Bernanke is teaching students it’s too much of a problem to mine and ship gold to the U.S. to fill our void, the Chinese are buying up the mines — in Africa.

China is mining gold, buying gold, buying gold mines and encouraging its citizens to buy gold. They are even minting gold coins in various sizes to make it easier for citizens to accumulate. Maybe we need to take another look at Zhaoxue’s statement. “…for the acceleration of renminbi internationalization…” And right now the renminbi is fiat like all other currencies, right?

Reports in the past have told us it would be years before the dollars’ place, as the world reserve currency would end. At one time economists speculated if the dollar were ever replaced, it would be by the euro. Not anymore. Following the world wide financial collapse in 2008, and the stresses by such countries as Greece, the euro continues to teeter. The world watches for the impact of more Euro zone bailouts; it’s not looking good. All eyes right now are on Spain, as a not “if” but “when” bailout.

And then there is the fiscal cliff Ron Paul has warned about in the U.S. Failure by our nation’s leaders to reign in spending on domestic social issues, tighten tax loop-holes that encourage off-shore banking and investments by the rich (Hello Romney), an out of control military industrial complex pushing U.S. imperialism all over the world, and of course the Bush era tax cuts that are getting ready to expire and the now loss of the petrodollar. Add to that, the never ending Federal Reserve’s QEs. How much more can the fiat paper dollar withstand, even if stacked a billion thick?

Many people just don’t realize how aggressive the competition against the greenback has become in just the last two years by the red renminbi of China. The remnimbi is positioning itself to be viewed as a real global reserve currency alternative. China is not one to make public most of their financial plans, but let’s look at some of the stories that have made it into the mainstream media:

Russia and China in 2010 decided to do away with debt exchanges using the U.S. dollar and instead trade directly in ruble and renminbi.

In December 2011, Japan and China announced they would be promoting trades directly with each other and sidestepping the dollar. Last year's trades were about $340 billion. At the same time China announced a direct $11 billion currency swap with Thailand.

In January 2012, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Premier, signed a $5.5 billion currency swap with the United Arab Emirates.

Then at the end of January there is an article from Forbes answering the question “Why is China buying so much gold?” Forbes simple answer; a substitute against capital flight. What? The Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao is the one flying all over the world setting up all these currency swaps.

In late March 2012, according to Zeebiz, “The five major emerging economies of BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are set to inject greater economic momentum into their grouping by signing two pacts for promoting intra-BRICS trade at the fourth summit of their leaders…” And, “The pacts are expected to scale up intra-BRICS trade which has been growing at the rate of 28% over the last few years, but at $230 billion, remains much below the potential of the five economic power houses.”

In March 2012, we learned Dubai-based Emirates NBD the largest bank is selling dim sum bonds, debt securities issued in the Chinese yuan.

Again in March 2012, China and Australia sign a $30+ billion swap agreement. According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, “The main purposes of the swap agreement are to support trade and investment between Australia and China, particularly in local-currency terms, and to strengthen bilateral financial cooperation. The agreement reflects the increasing opportunities available to settle trade between the two countries in Chinese renminbi and to make RMB-denominated investments.”

In April, we learn in a report from Forbes, that China will be avoiding U.S. financial sanctions against Iran by making oil purchases not only bartering goods, but also using gold.

So, again gold is money. And gold is as a petrocurrency as opposed to the petrodollar that may lead to more petrowars.

In late June 2012, China and Chile agreed to strengthen their ties in a strategic partnership and double their trade in three years. The leaders of the two nations, Jiabao and Pinera, also announced the completion of negotiations on investment-related supplementary deals to a bilateral free trade agreement.

Also in late June of 2012, China and Brazil agreed to a $30 billion currency swap.

Hold on a minute, what did Ron Paul say about the U.S. establishing trade around the world but keeping our noses out of other nations business? Sounds like the leader of China was listening to Ron Paul. According to Paul’s critics, what we are witnessing from Jiabao is isolationism in action. Of course, the enlightened know this isn’t so. In fact, Jiabao is a stellar example of Paul’s non-interventionist stance and is promoting trade with other countries.

Then in August 2012, Germany and China announced they are going to be doing a lot of their trade in the Euro and renminbi. The article leaves out any mention of bypassing the dollar. Maybe by now it should just be understood.

China encourages its citizens to accumulate gold. Gold coins are minted in China in varying sizes easing the way for the people to accumulate gold. China is the largest producer of gold in the world. And now as China increases trade around the world using renminbi, and it is also beginning to use gold as currency and in exchange for oil.

Ron Paul has repeatedly said the U.S. should consider gold a currency and if we are to continue printing paper dollars we need to return to a gold standard, so the dollar will have value. The Federal Reserve Bank, Obama, Romney and their supporters brush away Paul's comments as though his warnings were gnats.

Ron Paul alerts us of a day when the dollar has no value. He warns of a day this country topples over a fiscal cliff.

On that day, don’t be surprised to look up and see the renminbi--- backed by gold emerging as the world’s reserve currency.

NOVEMBER 05, 2013Escape From The DollarAn Interview with Paul Craig Robertsby MIKE WHITNEY

Paul Craig Roberts thinks the Fed has backed itself into a corner. A rise in interest rates would strengthen the dollar, give the dollar new life as world reserve currency, and halt the movement into gold, but a rise in rates would collapse the bond and stock markets and reduce the value of derivatives on the banks’ balance sheets. I asked Dr. Roberts if the Fed would sacrifice the dollar in order to save the banks and what the effect would be on Washington’s power viv-a-vis the rest of the world. His answers to these questions suggest that Washington’s days of financial hegemony and world leadership are numbered.

Mike Whitney: Is the US dollar at risk of losing its position as reserve currency? How would this loss affect US leadership and other countries?

Paul Craig Roberts: In a way the dollar has already lost its reserve currency status, but this development has not yet been officially realized; nor has it hit the currency markets. Consider that the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have announced their intention to abandon the use of the US dollar for the settlement of trade imbalances between themselves, instead settling their accounts in their own currencies. (There is now a website, the BRICSPOST, that reports on the developing relations between the five large countries.) There are also reports that Australia and China and Japan and China are going to settle their trade accounts without recourse to the dollar.

Different explanations are given. The BRICS imply that they are tired of US financial hegemony and have concerns about the dollar’s stability in view of Washington’s excessive issuance of new debt and new money to finance it. China, Australia, and Japan have cited the avoidance of transaction fees associated with exchanging their currencies first into US dollars and then into the other currencies. They say it is a cost-saving step to reduce transaction costs. This may be diplomatic cover for discarding the US dollar.

The October 2013 US government partial shutdown and (exaggerated) debt default threat resulted in the unprecedented currency swap agreements between the Chinese central bank and the European central bank and between the Chinese central bank and the Bank of England. The reason given for these currency swaps was necessary precaution against dollar disruption. In other words, US instability was seen as a threat to the international payments system. The dollar’s role of reserve currency is not compatible with the view that precautions must be taken against the dollar’s possible failure or disruption. China’s call for “a de-Americanized world” is a clear sign of growing impatience with Washington’s irresponsibility.

To summarize, there has been a change in attitudes toward the US dollar and acceptance of US financial hegemony. As the October deficit and debt ceiling crisis has not been resolved, merely moved to January/February, 2014, a repeat of the October impasse would further erode confidence in the dollar.

Regardless, most countries have come to the conclusion that not only has the US abused the reserve currency role, but also the power of Washington to impose its will and to act outside of law stems from its financial hegemony and that this financial power is more difficult to resist than Washington’s military power.

As the world, including US allies, made clear by standing up to Washington and blocking Washington’s military attack on Syria, Washington’s days of unchallenged hegemony are over. From China, Russia, Europe, and South America voices are rising against Washington’s lawlessness and recklessness. This changed attitude toward the US will break up the system of dollar imperialism.

Mike Whitney: How is the Federal Reserve’s Quantitative Easing impacting the dollar and financial instruments?

Paul Craig Roberts: The Federal Reserve’s policy of creating large amounts of new money in order to support the balance sheets of “banks too big to fail” and to finance continuing large budget deficits is another factor undermining the dollar’s reserve currency role. The liquidity that the Federal Reserve has pumped into the financial system has created enormous bubbles in bond and stock markets. US bond prices are so high as to be incompatible with the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and massive creation of new dollars.

Moreover, central banks and some investors have realized that the Federal Reserve is locked into the policy of supporting bond prices. If the Federal Reserve ceases to support bond prices, interest rates will rise, the prices of debt-related derivatives on the banks’ balance sheets will fall, and the stock and bond markets would collapse. Therefore, a tapering off of quantitative easing risks a financial panic.

On the other hand, continuing the policy of supporting bond prices further erodes confidence in the US dollar. Vast amounts of dollars and dollar-denominated financial instruments are held all over the world. Holders of dollars are watching the Federal Reserve dilute their holdings by creating 1,000 billion new dollars per year. The natural result of this experience is to lighten up on dollar holdings and to look for different ways in which to hold reserves.

The Federal Reserve can print money with which to purchase bonds, but it cannot print foreign currencies with which to purchase dollars. As concerns over the dollar rise, the dollar’s exchange value will fall as more dollars are sold in currency markets. As the US is import-dependent, this will translate into higher domestic prices. Rising inflation will further spook dollar holders.

According to recent reports, China and Japan have together reduced their holdings of US Treasuries by some $40 billion. This is not a large sum compared to the size of the market, but it is a change from continuing accumulation. In the past, Washington has been able to count on China and Japan recycling their trade surpluses with the US into US Treasury debt. If foreign willingness to acquire Treasury debt declines and the federal budget deficit does not, the Federal Reserve would have to increase quantitative easing, thus putting even more pressure on the dollar.

In other words, in order to avoid an immediate crisis, the Federal Reserve has to continue a policy that will produce a crisis down the road. It is either a financial crisis now or a dollar crisis later.

Eventually, the Federal Reserve’s hand will be forced. As the dollar’s exchange value declines, so will the value of dollar-denominated financial instruments regardless of how many bonds the Federal Reserve purchases.

Mike Whitney: How is China likely to respond to America’s changing economic position?

Paul Craig Roberts: When I met with Chinese policymakers in 2006, I advised them that there was a limit to how long they could rely on the US consumer market as jobs offshoring was destroying it. I pointed out that China’s large population provided policymakers with the potential for an enormous economy. They replied that the one-child policy, which had been necessary in early years to keep population from outrunning social infrastructure, was blocking the development of a domestic consumer economy. As peasant farmers no longer could rely on multiple children for old age insurance, they hoarded their earnings in order to provide for their old age. Chinese policymakers said that they intended to develop a social security system that would give the population confidence to spend more of their earnings. I do not know to what extent China has moved in this direction.

Since 2006 the Chinese government has let the yuan appreciate 25% or 33%, depending on the choice of base. The increase in the currency’s exchange value has not hurt exports or the economy. Moreover, the US no longer manufactures many of the items for which it is dependent on China, and other developing countries do not have the combination of the technology that US corporations have given to China and China’s large excess supply of labor. So it is unlikely that China faces any threat to its development except for US policies designed to cut China off from resources, such as the new US military focus on the Pacific announced by the Obama regime.

China’s large dollar holdings are the consequence of the technological prowess that China acquired from Western corporations offshoring jobs to China. What is important to China is the technology and business know-how, which they have now acquired. The paper wealth represented by dollar holdings is not the important factor.

China could destabilize the US dollar by converting its holdings into dollar currency and dumping the dollars into the exchange markets. The Federal Reserve would not be able to arrange currency swaps with other countries large enough to buy up the dumped dollars, and the dollar’s exchange value would fall. Such an action could be a Chinese response to military encirclement by Washington.

In the absence of a confrontation, the Chinese government is more likely to gradually convert its dollars into gold, other currencies and real assets such as oil and mineral deposits and food businesses.

Quantitative easing is rapidly increasing the supply of dollars, but as other countries move to other arrangements for settling their trade imbalances, the demand for dollars is not rising with the supply. Thus, the dollar’s price must fall. Whether the fall is slow over time or sudden due to an unanticipated Black Swan event remains to be seen.

Is it even economically feasible for a counterfeiter to tamper with the gold? 1 gram gold bars produced by Karatbars are tamper-proof. In addition to the many security features, it quite literally would cost a counterfeiter more money to produce a fake gold bar, than it would to simply produce a genuine 24KT one.

1 gram gold "bars" produced by Karatbars aren't tamper-proof. We've been through this before. At best they're tamper-evident. Assuming, of course, anyone will bother tampering with a novelty credit-card sized piece of plastic.

1 gram gold "bars" produced by Karatbars aren't tamper-proof. We've been through this before. At best they're tamper-evident. Assuming, of course, anyone will bother tampering with a novelty credit-card sized piece of plastic.

You're responding to a statement made well over a year ago.Allow me to re-phrase that. They are tamper- resistant, tamper-evident whatever...A genuine Karatbars is easily verifiable due to the various security features present.If someone were to attempt to tamper with one, it would be readily apparent.

ps: This thread is not about Karatbars. It's about the doomed US Federal Reserve Note.